La Liga: Details of Messi’s new contract, reason for delay revealed

Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi will not be earning a ‘super contract’ on the deal he signed last week. The 30-year-old ended months of speculations over his future at the Catalan club by signing a new deal on November 25, a contract that will tie him to the club until 2021.

The contract also included a €700 million buyout clause. Spanish daily, El Mundo had reported earlier that the Argentina captain demanded a €100m signing-on bonus and that he is set to earn as much as 70 per cent more than Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

The news outlet also reported that the Argentine will earn a figure of €350m before tax and additional bonus payments over the next five years.

However, a source close to the Messi camp has revealed to Goal that the forward is in fact earning roughly €22m a year after tax, a figure close to what he was earning with his previous contract that would expire in June 2018.

Goal also reports that the Catalan independence referendum caused the delay in him putting pen-to-paper on the new contract are completely false.

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